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Outsourcing of US jobs to foreign countries: Bad or Good?

Bad

Good

the people who lose their jobs must now find a new job they may not be as well qualified for as their old job. these people will also have more financial problems for some time which will slow down their spending on non-necessary things. this will hurt the economy in America as well as lower the quality of life for Americans.

With companies outsourcing they do not need to maintain as many facilities in the US and thus they are not taxed and thus the government does not make get money for the services it supplies. also companies that outsource do not need to follow the same production requirements as those of companies staying in the US.

Outsourcing is good for some businesses not necessarily the economy or the American people.

when companies outsource they nearly always save money, and are able if they want to reduce the prices of their products or keep them much lower than the competition. this hurts the small companies that can't outsource.

in the end it is about what think is a greater good. I personally value people living better lives where they can find work doing something they like or are good at vs letting a business make more money that most workers won't even notice.

Outsourcing is a byproduct of globalization. Globalization is process where societies and cultures have become integrated through a globe-spanning network of communication and execution. This integration of national economies into the international economy through trade, foreign direct investment, capital flow, migration, and the spread of technology has benefited millions of people throughout the world. Outsourcing has put millions into work. We can't blame companies because of global competition. In terms of requirement and regulations, most companies opt to leave the U.S. because of those requirements because they are only trying to compete globally.

Comparative Advantage is the most critical aspect of outsourcing and globalization because it is hard for America to compete with China in labor since China has cheap labor. However, the street goes both ways. If China didn't produce the limitless number of products, how much more money would you be buying things if those were produced in America. Probably, anywhere from $5-10 dollars more per product. Look at some of you everyday things in the house and you will discover what is made in China, Japan, India, and Mexico.

Yes, it is a major problem that America is slowly losing economic strength in the world because of our lost of mass production. We don't produce any goods anymore. All we have is service due to the endless number of products we are offered to buy.

Everybody forgets exactly how many jobs have been imported into America. While GM, Ford and Chrysler cut back, Toyota, Nissan, Fiat, Hyundai, Nintendo, Sony, and other overseas companies add jobs.

According to the Organization for International Investment, the numbers of manufacturing jobs insourced to the United States grew by 82 percent, while the number outsourced overseas grew by only 23 percent. Moreover, these insourced jobs are often higher-paying than those outsourced.

Outsourcing isn't a bad thing. What's bad is bad government policies which fail to help people who lost their job get retrained for a better paying job.

You make great points here. The loss of jobs to overseas is painful for the people losing their jobs. If given the right re-training, they can weather this storm. Its not as easy if we are in an economic slowdown, and its harder to find replacement jobs. In normal times, its not such a big deal.

The benefits are for the consumers, who now get the product at a lower price (and can spend their savings on other products). Also, the economy will move towards focusing on more productive activities that, potentially, give the US better export products.

Outsourcing American jobs offshore is bad, and we are just beginning to see the effects of our offshore binge. The scary part is that the majority of the offshore jobs are being sent by financial companies.

So, now, someone working in a call center in India has access to my SSN, my credit card number, and all of my information. The security over there is so lax that they can easily steal that information and start opening up accounts in my name.

Security is a big issue when it comes to outsourcing, however just as a chain is as strong as it's weakest link, the encryption that needs to be overcome is not particularly strong either, and this is the larger issue in terms of security. Nobody should be able to access your information even if they have the data, because of encryption. If the encryption is weak, then it doesn't matter where the information is, because it will be cracked. Indeed, most of the black market data racket is coming not from India, as one might expect, but from Russia's commodity driven economy.

Also, perhaps corporate greed may be driving the American worker's job overseas, but it is giving the 3rd world worker new opportunities and helping to reduce their poverty.

It's not the "hackers" that you read about in the news that I'm primarily concerned with. If the data is encrypted and the company has designed decent security in to their network, as you mention it should be relatively safe.

I'm concerned about the people who have access to the data via call center applications, development environments, etc. It doesn't matter if the data or the session is encrypted or not, if they have access to it they can just store it on a removable media device or email it out to their personal account.

Insider fraud is MUCH more prevalent than someone hacking in to the system from outside.

Every one on this post is making things so difficult easy example if there are two identical ipods and one is 165$ and the other exact same one is 100$ which one would you buy? If you answered the one for a $100 then congrats you just supported outsourcing case closed

That's not exactly the case. Sure, as a consumer WITH THE MEANS TO PURCHASE, I'm going to pick the cheaper one. But as a worker, I'm going to support keeping my job, even if it means paying an extra $65 for an ipod. As a government, I'm going to support whatever will mean more revenues for me to tax. As a consumer, I won't be shopping for ipods if I'm out of work because someone over seas took my job.

Finally, as an economist, I'm not going to favor policies that would lead to a more polarized distribution of wealth, as I know that will lead to fewer consumers with the means to purchase luxury items.

Let's take it one step at a time, shall we? We have jobs. Having a job makes sure I'll get paid. Getting paid makes sure the girl at the supermarket won't call the cops to inform a theft, so I can sit back and drink my hard-worked-for coffee and watch my favorite show on my screen. So far so good.

Wikipedia tells me that outsourcing is often made in the interest of lowering firm costs, now - if the firm would have paid her workers in relation to profit, outsourcing would be a definite fair game, since an abundant place like the US could help other poor countries around the world with money and those countries could aid the US with more manpower, most likely even a better manpower.

But the system doesn't work that way. The first advice I have ever heard from the stock exchange field is "Buy low, Sell high", this is a typical capitalist saying. Get as much information as possible, prophesy the cheapest way to get best results, and sell it to suckers.

For an existing and successful firm, the advise would be - figure out a way to produce the (even if only allegedly) same product, with less expenses.

Wasn't the system built by the big boys upstairs, in order for them to keep their seats? If not financially, how else can a man declare himself, to himself and close relatives and friends, the he IS the alpha male?

Outsourcing and free trade 'level the playing field': the end result will be that workers anywhere in the world will be paid similar wages. Our standard of living will be lowered to raise the standard of living in the poorest countries.

At some level this may be "fair" but it isn't playing by the rules we've been following thus far.

In the meantime, big business will be enriched beyond reason, just as oil companies continue to enjoy record profits.

While I agree we need to help encourage economic growth and development in the third world the current model of outsourcing and investment isn't a stable or good thing.

The people that win big are the already wealthy minority of the world. They are able to decimate their competition by providing goods and services at reduced prices. Where they don't have much competition (or when their competition has already been wiped out) they can provide goods and services at the same or a higher price but for a lower cost to them.

This amounts to one of the grandest capital buffets the world has ever known. The wealthy are getting wealthier at an astounding rate, while at the same time the lower and middle classes are barely keeping pace with inflation (and there is much indication that that isn't even the case anymore).

The poor in third world countries see their resources pillaged, their environments ravaged, and their governments under the control of multinational corporations. They cannot unionize, their children work in sweatshops, they are killed if they try to protest or resist, they live on subsistence (or below subsistence) wages, and their local produces are easily run out of business by the cheap, efficient, and quality products of the western industrialists.

Of course, they are being modernized, progress.

Our own workers are being pressed on both sides. They are losing their jobs and wages to inflation and outsourcing, so they have to purchase those same cheap goods from companies that stole their work and status. A worker who lost his or her manufacturing job to overseas labor will go and shop at Wal-Mart, which is helping this process along, because they are compelled to do so. They have to purchase as cheaply as possible because of their increasing poverty.

It's always funny when those on the other side label this non-choice as a vote, as if the worker is voting in favor of these practices simply because they have to buy as cheaply as possible.

I'm just beginning to explore this subject because I and family members have been victims of companies leaving the U.S. for cheaper labor. Now let me think about this - we outsource jobs to other under developed countries so they can make a living and eventually buy our products. So Americans lose their jobs, and have to buy other countries crap while their export terr ifs are slim to nothing. Oh, in the mean time, we produce nothing for foreign counties to actually import from us! And perhaps a reminder - America is literally crumbling: our schools, sewers, bridges and health care, etc. I may not be the sharpest crayon in the box, but come on America, are we "stupid or something?"

I accept that outsourcing does aid wealth generation by those who already have wealth, but the resource pillaging, environmental ravaging and monopoly synthesizing of the world is not driven by outsourcing. Consider this, the demand for a product is increasing, and therefore more resources will be consumed producing the product. It doesn't matter where the resources come from, they will still be used, and so outsourcing is not generating all this environmental damage and resource consumption, it's already there. One even could argue that outsourcing is protecting American natural resources and instead ravaging someone else's.

Also, places like Walmart exist because, in it's early days, someone bought products from Walmart, before it closed down other manufacturer's factories, and thus outsourcing did not force the consumers to buy, but once it began, it became self reinforcing. So the original choice was still by the consumer.

Moreover, the rich have always been getting richer, throughout history, it has been the case. Nothing short of revolution will ever, or ever has, reversed this stream. Only by playing into the pockets of the super wealthy can extremely poor nations hope to gain some semblance of prosperity

"I accept that outsourcing does aid wealth generation by those who already have wealth, but the resource pillaging, environmental ravaging and monopoly synthesizing of the world is not driven by outsourcing. Consider this, the demand for a product is increasing, and therefore more resources will be consumed producing the product. It doesn't matter where the resources come from, they will still be used, and so outsourcing is not generating all this environmental damage and resource consumption, it's already there. One even could argue that outsourcing is protecting American natural resources and instead ravaging someone else's."

You are absolutely correct in noting that outsourcing alone is not causing massive economic destruction and global warming. However, it is making matters much worse, worse than they could be.

Remember, it takes several times less energy to manufacture and transport a doll a mile away than it does ten thousand. All of that travel means CO2 production, which is a prime component of global warming.

Also, companies are purposely going to nations that do not have as stringent environmental regulations (or ones they can bully into deregulating such things) as the United States and the E.U. What companies get away with in China with regards to pollution would find it much more difficult (if not impossible) to do so in the States. You know that, I am sure.

"Also, places like Walmart exist because, in it's early days, someone bought products from Walmart, before it closed down other manufacturer's factories, and thus outsourcing did not force the consumers to buy, but once it began, it became self reinforcing. So the original choice was still by the consumer."

Then your argument is valid until 1990, I am afraid all of the customers born after outsourcing began or those who shopped before it began and continued cannot be, logically, forced into supporting outsourcing simply by their purchase.

"Moreover, the rich have always been getting richer, throughout history, it has been the case. Nothing short of revolution will ever, or ever has, reversed this stream. Only by playing into the pockets of the super wealthy can extremely poor nations hope to gain some semblance of prosperity"

There have been periods where wealth distribution has been either equalized or more evenly distributed. There have been periods where the middle and lower classes started to close the gap, due mostly from extensive government programs, regulations, and progressive taxation.

"Only by playing into the pockets of the super wealthy can extremely poor nations hope to gain some semblance of prosperity"

That has never, ever been true. What usually happens is the wealthy have their run of things for awhile, then a Roosevelt, a Lenin, a Chavez, a Castro...etc..etc...will rise to power and either openly revolt or enact reforms.

Yes it takes more energy to ship goods when they are manufactured overseas, however equally, it may bring the producer closer to the consumer. Consider American Jobs being outsourced to Mexicans. Many of the consumers in Florida and Texas are now much closer to the source of goods than if they had been manufactured in Illinois. Furthermore, employment is generated in maritime occupations, if the goods do travel vast distances.

Moreover, although companies do get away with extensive pollution in developing economies like China, once these economies mature, anti pollution acts and stringent environmental regulations begin to be stringently enforced, as wealthier, more literate citizens become increasingly aware of health risks associated with pollution. So if we do raise the standards of living in developing countries, it follows that eventually they will become more environmentally regulated and thus will eventually impose restrictions. However as long as the poverty remains, people will sacrifice their environment to pursue wealth.

Yes, it means all those after about 1990 who buy outsourced goods are less liable, however, just as children must deal with the choices of their parents, the youth must deal with the mistakes of their elders. The youth are still responsible, albeit less so, for the mistakes of the past generation.

In respect to "There have been periods where wealth distribution has been either equalized or more evenly distributed. There have been periods where the middle and lower classes started to close the gap, due mostly from extensive government programs, regulations, and progressive taxation", The redistribution of power has always been radical. Wealth, in both the feudal and capitalistic sense, has been self aggregating, and so unless we adopt a model where wealth does not aggregate, it is unlikely that inequality can be eliminated. Furthermore, as shown by the great Soviet experiment, even with a centralized, distribution service, wealth still manages to aggregate within the upper echelons of society.

It has never been true prior to our great age of globalization, but if we look at how China has come to the fore relatively recently in terms of economic prowess, it has effectively been through employment as the American industrialist's candy store, supplying almost whatever was demanded, including cheap sweatshop labour. And yes, a Roosevelt, a Lenin, a Chavez, a Castro may come along, but they come through radicalism, but political power is achieved through the barrel of a gun. While reform did occur, wealth eventually re aggregated into a new ruling echelon.

You do make a good point with regards to Mexico, to a certain extent. Of course, Mexico only makes up a part of the outsourcing trend. Am I to understand that you are concerned about the environmental impact of outsourcing to far-away nations?

As for increasing environmental standards in developing nations; that may be true but there are some aspects to that argument you left out.

The damage done before these regulations are made and enforced has been and will be massive. We've seen pollution levels in countries such as China and India beyond imagination. Thousands to millions have been harmed or killed by complications arising from the truly horrific environmental standards of countries like China.

We no longer have the luxury of slow-moving environmental standards, of the kind the U.S, Canada, and the E.U. have enjoyed. The scale of industrial development is far beyond what has occurred at any one time in the past, and the types of byproducts being produced are doing immeasurable harm already.

Global Warming and environmental contamination are not things we can wait decades to slow or stop. So while China may eventually have standards that are up to par with their environmental situation it will be long after severe and perhaps irreversible damage has been done.

Through regulations, laws, and policies in our own country we are either going to have to halt outsourcing to those countries or put high tariffs or taxes on goods produced through ways that are overly detrimental to the environment.

Either we stop outsourcing or force them to adopt sufficient environmental policies. Neither China, it's people, or the rest of the world can afford to wait for a non-democratic, slow-moving bureaucratic government to act on these matters.

You are still ignoring the lack of choice for many people on small, fixed incomes. They can either starve or go otherwise wanting or purchase goods that fulfill their needs at their budget but indirectly support harmful practices. People voice their direct opinions by vote, not dollars. No matter how people spend their money they are going to be indirectly supporting harmful practices or practices they do not agree with.

The other points are going to get into whole new areas of discussion, we may have to make new debates about those. God knows I'd love to, but this debate is already huge in scope.

The question isn't whether outsourcing of jobs is good or bad for America, the question is whether outsourcing itself is good or bad.

For many Americans, outsourcing is a bad thing. For others, it's a good thing. More importantly, for the world outsourcing is a positive as it lowers trade barriers and enocurages devlopment of underdeveloped countries.

The outsourcing of American jobs to foreign countries cannot possibly be good for our economy. Taking jobs away from well-educated Americans and giving them to well-educated people of India, just because the people of India are willing to work for less, is not the right way to handle this situation. The only people that such outsourcing benefits are the already-wealthy corporate businessmen of America, and it takes away opportunities for honest, hard-working Americans to get a good job. Certainly, if the workforce is not available in the US, then the people of India should be given the opportunities. But American-based companies serving America should first turn to the American people for their workforce. The unemployment rate is more important than the salaries of corporate tycoons.

Well-educated Americans? Yea, there are, but few. Mal-edukado, a lot....Those are Americans who does not want to listen, getting personal with the customer service agents with accents. English may not be our mother tongue, we speak multi languages. For example, Americans loves items on sales but doesn't know how to read simple instructions whatsoever. The keyword is SELECTED ITEMS. Like, 20% disc on selected items, but they would insist that they are supposed to get disc on items they want. If they cant get it, they would gone mad. People from other countries are laughing for you guys,,,do not think you all are GOD...

I think you are being a rude lil Asian. While I wasnt born in America, I love it. Its has given me ample opportunity and majority of the people are very kind and helpful, except the VERY few who have an attitude like you (acting like God). Your own words speak for themselves about yourself. They have a right to want the jobs they have created themselves to stay in the country. Those jobs have helped raise middle class in India , China, Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia and many more places. Americans like to help people, but its people with your attitude against them, and with the countries they try to help that speak against them or use unfair tactics in return that they dont like. Majority of Americans are educated, your comment is demeaning, for your English is not that good, are you educated? Many countries dont get that opportunity to be educated on any level, so they feel blessed, not Godly. Just because you obtain your opinion based on a few comments, doesnt mean you should "generalize" an opinion about an entire nation. I think they should bring their jobs home to raise their economy back to where they were before they started helping other countries, because its obvious to many that many people in these countries are not appreciative, you being one of them. It is frustrating not to be able to call somewhere and understand the person speaking on the other line. And the comprehension of the problem by the foreigner is often times wrong, complicating ths issue. Obviously you or someone you know works for them and you feel your job being threatened by other people on this forum. Walk in their shoes. I appreciate your opinion and being someplace "free" where you can express that opinion,but you dont need to demean an entire people this way..I am sure they can find fault with your country too, none of us are perfect are we? By the way your profile is "bragging" you are a nice person, but your comments dont appear to show that. Have an opinion, but dont disrespect others. I respect you as a person, get to know Americans, most of them are very nice.

I like my job. I speek english. I don't want my job going to another countries. And I don't want people who cant communicate to me what needs to be done on my computer, or my phone, or my sterio trying to help me fix it.

Additionally, the unskilled worker in america (ie: the average american) is finding it harder and harder to find work because their job are going over seas.

The United States has lost a vast amount of jobs to foreign countries. Large corporations have cut jobs in the U.S. and moved them overseas to decrease their annual operating expenses, which you can't blame them because they are making decisions that will better their corporations. However, despite bettering their company from a monetary standpoint, the problem in this model is that corporations do not care about the United States—as a country. When the board members of a company meet to make decisions to cut jobs or increase productivity within a company, they are not thinking about what’s best for the country, rather they are driven by decisions that best reflect the interest of shareholders.

Decisions made today by corporate America are based on greed, because all they care about is the price per share earnings ratio to sky rocket. Upper executives do not have the capacity to make sound moral decisions that will lead to an outcome that will suit the best interest for the workers that have dedicated 30 to 40 years of their lives for the company.

This is the double-edge sword of capitalism and it’s killing the U.S. economy. In 2004, the Midwest U.S. alone lost 7,555 in a matter of three months in 2004—almost all to Mexico. This number is part of the 2.7 million manufacturing jobs lost since 2000 in the United States. Think of the economic ramifications these job losses have created, everything from paying on mortgages on homes to buying goods—severe effects trickle their way down the economic ladder. Compare this 2.7 million loss since 2000 to General Motors situation in present day 2008. The government announced this past week that if General Motors fell it could put the U.S. into a severe Recession or Depression, with the loss of 2.5 million jobs total (manufacturing, assembly, tiered suppliers, dealerships, etc). Anyway you look at it, the exchange of money from individual to business to business declines dramatically with these job losses.

I’ll keep it simple and finish up for everyone. Because of our job losses in the manufacturing and assembly sectors, this has led to auxiliary losses in other sectors and our country has become less self-sufficient in correlation to other countries, which now have those “U.S.” jobs. In other words, if you don’t make anything, then you are not appealing to trade with, and eventually countries will not trade with you. Adding to this, the U.S. is still the number one consuming country in the world—number one in imports vs. (China #1 in exports). Furthermore, if we are not making anything in our country to sell to other countries, then a trade imbalance or deficit has been created. We are already in debt as a country and the U.S. is currently borrowing money from other countries to pay for a bailout, sparked by the sub-prime mortgage crisis.

Lots of great arguments have already been made here. A couple that I have not seen:

1) Outsourcing US Jobs offshore can only be good if there are new jobs being created for those displaced workers to move to. Clearly right now in our economy, we are losing jobs on a net basis, so in that environment, outsourcing US jobs cannot be good in any way shape or form if it is contributing to greater domestic unemployment, which it is right now. The impact of that includes a) a reduction in the tax revenues at the state and federal levels which is one significant reason why we have such huge deficits and have become a debtor nation to China. The state of California has such a huge deficit that very important programs including education are getting cut. How is that deficit created? It all comes back to tax revenues offset by spending. Fewer jobs means less income means less in taxes and b) more unemployment means more americans receiving unemployment assistance and other public programs which further contribute to the deficit. This is such a fundamental issue yet somehow it gets glossed over. When the economy is growing and new jobs are being created, it is not noticeable, but today it is a glaring weakness in our economic policy to allow this practice to continue unfettered.

2) Treating white collar jobs as commodities, as outsourcing does, fails to take into account the human element. Just because I might be hired to do a certain job, as an employee of a company I know that if I find ways to improve the way we do things and innovate, it will reflect positively on me and help lead the way to promotions and greater compensation. When you outsource a job offshore, you significantly diminish the potential for innovation. Despite what marketing people might tell you, the outsourcing industry performs a "lift and shift" and nothing more. They take your work and move it offshore and perform it in exactly the same way as you are doing it in the US. Couple that with 50% or greater turnover rates in places like India and what you have is a situation where nobody ever sits in the job long enough to understand it well enough to actually have an opportunity to think about ways to improve it. The liklihood that an offshore employee that has been hired to perform a specific task is going to come up with ideas for innovation are virtually nil. They don't have the same motivation or opportunity. Unless you find a way to measure and quantify the concept of innovation and then build it into your contract with the outsourcing provider, innovation is just not going to happen, which will lead to stagnation. I feel this is the leading characteristic of outsourcing white collar positions that is going to lead to a permanent deterioration of the US Economy, because innovation is what made the US economy so great. Corporate greed over maximizing short term profits through labor arbitrage will lead to long term losses that ultimately may take decades to recover from, if ever.

So the companies out source their jobs to make things cheaper? Well, if it only costs $5 to make the item (including materials and labor)... WHY are they selling it for $15 and $20? I thought they outsourced to make the prices cheaper. Why not 6 or 7 dollars instead of 20? So if they kept their business stateside it would cost them around $10 to $15 dollars to make the item (including materials and labor)... so they could still sell it for $20 or $25. Not only that but it would create jobs for many many many Americans who are on unemployment right now and those people who get those jobs will have money that they will be able to spend on "wants" not only "needs" so they would be able to buy more things, putting money back into the economy.

Everyone who selected "Good" in my opinion are feeding off of what the companies who outsource want them to think.

I got laid off 3 years ago. I worked for that company nearly for 10 years. I have been struggling to get a job back for the past 3 years. I couldn't pay my monthly mortgages and the bank took my 3 bed room house away from me. With my wife and my 3 year old daughter we moved with my parents who live in a 1 bed room apartment. I used to make about $40 an hour. I have been forced to try for all kinds of jobs, instead of IT. I have started working as a construction worker and make $8 per hour now. That too I dont get work consistently. I voted for Obama trusting he'll improve the economy and bring American jobs back home. No improvement for the past 2 years. Some people claim that stopping outsourcing will make U.S. companies incompetent, but people like me have been forced to struggle for daily food because of outsourcing.

Even though you may get cheaper goods from outsourcing, the employment opportunities of Americans decrease which makes it tougher for those people to afford the cheaper goods or at least to some extent, ruin the point of getting it cheaper the first place since the average income that everyone makes is reduced to what it could have been. Outsourcing affects the lower and middle class, which is a decent chunk of America. If products were manufactured in the US, the goods might be more expensive, but the average consumer can afford it since they have a higher employment opportunity and are more capable of affording the more expensive, but higher quality American goods.

Given how much Turpificatus's arguments need to be deconstructed I'm going to have to start a new line of argument over here. (Also, if I oppose and opposer I am apparently affirming that Outsourcing is good according to the system).

"Yes, it is ego driven. They lived a much more privileged life than can be expected for people who work in such industries, and demand that the lifestyle be maintained. If we take the living conditions of global manufacturing 'grunts' for want of a better word, the American 'grunt' is excessively well off. Really, all outsourcing is doing is re-balancing the equality, equal pay for equal work."

Why is it the workers who must pay the price for outsourcing? Why is it egotism for them to want to live like the average American? In our society we have a certain standard of living that, if a person or family is below, they become low in status, power, prestige, honor, authority, regard..etc..etc. If noone in the United States owned a computer it would be one thing, but when computers are the norm, and in many cases a necessary aspect of our social, economic, and political lives it is harmful for anyone without access to it.

Why, when the rich have an abundance equal to the wealth of nearly everyone else on earth combined, when individuals and companies have budgets and assets larger than many countries, should the factory workers pay the price, and be scorned when they complain? Why should they make sacrifices so someone else can get even more fabulously wealthy, and so the poor in other countries can see a small amount of an increase in prosperity?

It is egotistical to want a certain standard of security and prosperity in a nation of wealth, or is it egotistical to disregard the hunger, the poverty, the want, the destitution of those in vulnerable economic positions for the sake of those with plenty of wealth to spare?

"The problem in those communities that rely on manufacturing industries for survival is a shortcoming in the government, and it's inability to encourage high technology industry development. These people are not suffering due to corporate decisions to outsource, but the government's inability to observe the inevitable, and plan ahead."

This is a rather interesting statement, and it amounts to this:

It isn't the fault of corporations for practices that harm communities, it is the fault of the governments for not heading off and making plans to overcome these practices early on.

First off, these companies with their wealth and power have a great deal of influence over local communities, state governments, and the Federal Government. That is well known and I shouldn't have to mention it.

Secondly, your stance amounts to blaming the victim. It's apparently not the fault of companies for harmful practices but the fault of governments for not waving a magic wand and making things better sooner.

As a Libertarian I find your stance all the more intriguing, you are practically saying that it is the government's job to fix this problem. I would like to see some suggestions as to how.

"yes these immediate issues are destructive, however over the course of history, again and again during the era of industrialization, children are exploited, environments defecated upon and nations are exploited, however it strikes me that only after such a nation industrializes, do they preach suffrage and equality and fair trading practices. Do you really expect solar panels in Africa, three times as expensive as developing coal, and notoriously unreliable, to power a steel industry? Or that they won't employ child labour and cut their workforce in half?"

I think you are simplifying and distorting a very turbulent and complex development. Are you forgetting how people had to fight and die for these programs? Are you forgetting how people were shot, hung, and murdered to keep children out of factories, how battles were waged across the country in courtrooms and legislative houses in order to pass environmental regulations.

These things did not come naturally, they came from pitched political battles between the progressive forces and business interests. It wasn't after the nation became universally prosperous that these reforms occurred, it was when abject and terrible poverty were still very much a norm. It was during the great depression that many of our reforms occurred in the labor and welfare departments, and it was the turbulent 60s and 70s that our major environmental reforms were created.

You have all of history on its head, first prosperity then progress; I am afraid it was progress then prosperity.

There already large movements in the developing world in favor of better labor practices and environmental protection. Unfortunately, anti-democratic governments, democratic governments bought out by business interests, and U.S. backed dictatorships have kept these movements down.

You are giving us a false choice between economic stagnation or livable working and environmental conditions. We have the money and the technology to provide economic, labor, and environmental prosperity; we simply lack the political will.

In fact, Africa is seeing solar panels installed in many remote tribal communities due to the high cost of oil, their poverty, and western aid programs. We are seeing laptops that cost 100 dollars and are powered by hand-cranks, we are seeing community water purifiers that are powered by a person on a bicycle. We are perfectly capable of providing these nations with an entrance into the modern era without the problems and strife that we had to deal with during our development.

"In relation to domestic production and ownership, yes, it will reduce domestically owned industry, however once enough wealth is achieved, the odds will begin to even. Also, Food is a tenuous example to use as it is a strategic resource as well as economical. Fluctuations in world food prices are also why countries like Japan give 700% subsidies to their farmers, to ensure that the domestic agrarian industry is never lost and in times of strife, will continue to produce. It is also why the EU refuses to reduce tariffs on imported foods, as it will decimate their agriculture."

Here is the problem, and I mentioned this earlier on:

Corporations and western governments who support their interests regularly force smaller governments to adopt practices that benefit them and not their own people.

Nations that want their people to be prosperous, nations that want to ensure a minimum standard of living that ensures human dignity use protectionist measures to stabilize what amounts to a volatile international market filled with sharks, parasites, and institutions which regard humanity as a mere tool to place large wads of cash into their pockets.

I think it is quite clear that outsourcing hurts the local economy in the end.

To quote a recent World Public Opinion on Globalization...

"Support for globalization is remarkably strong throughout the world. The highest levels of support are found in countries with export-oriented economies: China (87%), South Korea (86%) and Israel (82%)."

There is significant concern about the effect of trade on employment, especially in more developed countries.

80% of French respondents believe trade has a negative impact on job security in their country

73% percent think it is also bad for the creation of jobs there.

In the United States, 67% consider trade harmful for U.S. workers' job security & 60% call it detrimental for job creation."

I'm not sure how many of you have been down to Nogales, Mexico, but the factories there (many owned by US corporations outsourcing their production facilities) have horrendous working conditions. Outsourcing is exploiting the lax labor laws in other countries and the people in an effort to save some money on production costs. Doesn't matter whether children work in the factories, doesn't matter how poorly the laborers are paid or treated - all corporations are interested in is profit.

I'm just making an argument from a moral perspective because there are plenty of others who can argue economics better than I. This is just another aspect to think about.

The outscourcing of jobs to foreign coutries is a bad thing not only does it put the American people out of work but it also is a double whammy on the tax payer. This is not right that are jobs be sent over to some foreign country are economy is in a crisis right now and we need to keep American jobs here.

What is unamerican? The political climate that lead to the economic depression we are now facing. That political climate supported big business in avoiding taxation by operating overseas, while outsourcing labor (and good paying jobs) to those in other countries who are able to work for less, due to differences in currency. Outsourcing, the practices of employing remote foreign labor to maximize profits has been the primary example of what is UnAmerican. If the jobs are being exported, is it no wonder that so many Americans are foreclosing on their homes, and are not active consumers?

I am not fully against outsourcing but one point of view I have not seen here is. If we outsource medium paying jobs and those jobs are replaced with less paying jobs the total number of people paying Fed Income taxes will reduce. If this happens the overall tax burden will become more burdensome to those who continue to pay taxes. With less people paying taxes and more people needing govt assistance the tax burden on those still paying taxes will grow even faster. This is one argument many have overlooked regarding the consequences of outsourcing.

I think it is a bad because Americans are losing their jobs, and it is defiantly effecting our economy because by not having jobs, Americans dont have money to buy things with which effects our stores and other buissness'. I think people are stupid if they think having U.S jobs in foreign countries is a good thing. I dnt know about you bt I need a job because a job gives me money, and money lets me live

Outsourcing was one those things you hear just before the great crash in the markets. That happen right before Clinton left office. The three engines of economic ruin we see today was: outsource, light sweet crude go from 18 dollars a barrel to 50, and exporting countries manipulating their currency market to complete international trade. During that I remember how that time magazine had whole issue on outsourcing computer jobs. You can't make havoc with colleges jobs expect every just going away. These people went to school for fours years only to find that they can not compete with ten cent a hour. They then are completely dependent Gov't so is free trade unfair trade? We never real recover from those days, the recession just goes on and on with end in sight. You see these guys aren't going to go out and spend another fours years get some new education. What it boils down to is outsourcing put them out of commission for good.

But the system doesn't work that way. The first advice I have ever heard from the stock exchange field is "Buy low, Sell high", this is a typical capitalist saying. Get as much information as possible, prophesy the cheapest way to get best results, and sell it to suckers. this is really bad stuff when we cannot count on ourselves to build a good quality product for less

Some comments I sent to a friend on this issue (many emails back and forth)

"Company's are free to outsource jobs as voters are free to add tariffs or restrictions on shipping these jobs overseas. That is what America is all about. I am not a strong believer in a welfare state however I also do not believe in a country with only the rich and the poor with no in between."

"Fine we disagree, however when I interviewed for a tax position and fifty-seven of the sixty employees were in India, which shocked me, well that too me is more like amputating both legs and one arm. Personally I think "outsourcing" high paying jobs will not work until wages even out with China and India which I think will be many many years from today..."

"Did you read Economist Paul Samuelson, a Nobel Prize winner, paper stating that the economic effect of outsourcing is similar to allowing mass immigration of workers willing to compete for service jobs at extremely low wages. They can and will drive down the income for huge swaths of the middle class, even if they benefit their employers. "Mainstream trade economists have insufficiently noticed the drastic change in mean U.S. incomes and in inequalities among different U.S. classes,". Well?"

"True, I did wonder why businesses get to write off all of their foreign source expenses, including wages to employees, and other tax breaks (at least until they bring back the cash which they usually don't anyway). The answer is that businesses take on great risks to provide jobs for the country. Wait a minute, they are creating jobs in foreign countries, while getting the tax breaks, financial bail-outs, research grants, and law enforcement provided by American taxpayers. Looks like a loophole to me"

"If we allow American companies to outsource to countries that don't have laws (or don't enforce laws) for environmental protection, worker safety, and child labor, etc.. American workers simply cannot compete. It's not a level playing field. If we continue to allow unrestricted outsourcing, the playing field will be leveled by the degradation of the American worker and American society."

"Its not efficiency, Company's outsource to make more money, period. If it was efficiency CEO's salary's would be much much lower"

"I read recently that HP fired thousands of workers and outsourced their jobs. If you want companies to stop doing this just don’t buy their products or services effectively making outsourcing a bad idea financially. The problem is cheap labor leads to cheap products and when it comes time to pay at the register most really don’t care about those people who lost their jobs cause you just got a cheaper product."

"Is foreign outsourcing of American jobs by American Companies immoral? Its about money...not morality."

"Lawmakers in many states and in the United States Congress have identified foreign outsourcing as a threat to US employment and prosperity. If no action is taken US companies will continue to fire American workers in significant numbers and replacing them with foreign workers in low-wage countries such as India, China and Eastern Europe. Of course, outsourcing is nothing new however this time it is different. Though the US and State governments and American Corporations have been outsourcing domestically for decades everything has changed as many more service jobs are leaving. The recent increase in foreign outsourcing in which US companies purchase services from foreign-based providers has been made increasingly cost effective due to the personal computer and the Internet. The game is over - get use to low paying US jobs."

"I read from several sources, that over one third of the recent world trade growth has been achieved by means of foreign outsourcing to other countries. That this has caused the loss of millions of jobs in the United States and has had a major effect on the US Economy. Foreign outsourcing has changed the demand for skilled and unskilled labor and altered the structure of wages in the United States. Foreign outsourcing sends production to countries where labor costs are lower. As a professional, I have seen many American businesses outsource their projects to foreign countries. American businesses do not fail to realize that they are spending their money overseas and are not supporting the US economy. They are aware that they are causing American workers to lose their jobs. Why outsource? To save money as tariffs have been eliminated or reduced. They could care less about you or me. Its about the bottom line and they argue that they will be fired by there investors if they don't follow this path (yet Germany is successful without this approach as it has yet outsourced to the extent we do - interesting)."

"The fact is there is no such thing as a public company which is an American Company, unless its employee are here in America, at least to the extent greater than fifty percent. Most if not all are multinational and have employees all over the world and the owners of their stock come from all corners of the earth. If quality services can be obtained from a third world country where labor is one tenth the cost than they believe they have an obligation to their owners to find the best/cheapest service possible. Yes they tell us it painful to be an overpaid poor American and it will really take some time for us to get use to this new life of low wages. Just do your research to determine what jobs will remain in America and what skills will be required. As we send all of these middle class jobs away Corporations don't care if they destroy the American middle class but they do care about the bottom line. So what if they further separate the rich from the poor leaving the bulk of jobs in the remaining low paying service sector that can not be effectively outsourced."

"Why? The internet changed everything. It used to be only the manufacturing sector. Now thanks to the internet its both the service and manufacturing sectors. Well, I think no tariffs equal no jobs."

"Germany's system seems to work from what I have read and our system appears not to work so well. We focus on short-term profits. With respect to the ramifications of "outsourcing", well I'm fine with outsourcing blue collar jobs, as you can at least go back to college and in theory get a white collar job or you could have in the past. White collar jobs, well unless you have some replacement lined up I am not a fan of outsourcing these jobs. I have seen company's sold only because top management wanted profits today. How is that efficiency? Hundreds of jobs were than lost. Did this really help the investor or did it maximize the profits of the the CEO and top management? I believe job creation should be our number one goal here in the US and I think restrictions should be implemented for large corporations who than outsource jobs outside the US. With respect to small corps I think you do whatever you need to do as competition is fierce and capital is limited and therefore the rules are completely different."

"Weighing " the interests of top management with the interests of the person holding the job"...there needs to be some check and balance or our system will not work. Top management will sell the company or increase short term profits to maximize share value in the short term. You can check this imbalance with some form of employee participation. To what extent I am not sure. Again I'm no expert...just sharing my thoughts."

Thinking this through....interesting comment on Germany, is that true? That at large German companies, for example, half of a supervisory board -- which plays a key role in determining the company's strategy and direction -- is elected by employees?"

"Would the supervisory board outsource your job to India or China if they knew they themselves would be not re-elected? Seems that system works the best as they will do what is best for the Company and the employees. If they outsourced other employees they would themselves not be elected. Safe system I think. Can't fail."

"In our system the CEO's pay is, many times, set by the board of directors' and also the pay/benefits/connections for the board of directors' is set by the CEO. Conflict of interest?"

"In our system the CEO makes an income of hundreds or thousands of times more than the average worker. In Japan for example, the CEO makes less than 20 times the pay of the average worker. Makes you wonder how the CEO's get by in Japan."

"Many say they hate Obama for trying to turn us toward socialism but point to Germany as a success story, yet Germany is socialist. They pay much higher taxes, and they are taken care of from the womb to the tomb as a result. Employees participating in management? Isn't that similar to the dreaded Union word)?"

"How can it be that "socialist" Germany is doing better than "democratic" America? How can a country that controls so many damn social programs possibly survive and flourish?"

"The German model is better than its American counterpart. Is this true? I have read at large German companies, for example, half of a supervisory board -- which plays a key role in determining the company's strategy and direction -- is elected by employees. That stands in stark contrast to the dog-eat-dog world of American capitalism, where companies are run only to maximize profits for shareholders and top management. Germany has posted many months of job growth. The German rebound comes at a time when the standoff in the U.S. between business, labor and government is growing increasingly tense."

"Are American taxpayers paying to get their jobs taken away from them? System is broken. Management I have talked with in recent years over drinks, overseas, and in private, are very worried. I have heard "I am patriotic but when I see where my corporation is investing, where it is doing R&D;and especially where it is hiring, I worry. It's leaving America." What can we do? How about this? Tariffs to start. I think we lost the white collar jobs to India but we can get back the blue collar jobs and manufacture back in the US if we start taxing goods coming back in the US. I think it is difficult to do this with white collar jobs. That is what I would do as a start. Tax Corps that incur expenses in the US and deduct these expenses and that transfer jobs to India or China. Lets also require Corps to tell us how many employees are in America as a percentage of total employees. These Corps would no longer be considered American corps but multi-national corps. They would lose certain benefits that they take for granted starting with the designation that they are truly an American Corp, they are not. That is at least a start."

"Funny thing is, outsourcing not only destroys the American dream, it is also destroying America. Eliminate the middle class with all its benefits to society and you eliminate a large part of our government tax revenue with it. Corps were able to avoid paying taxes legally but the middle class always paid their taxes and now they are gone...goodbye American dream and also goodbye America."

Its nonsense if someone claims that outsourcing is good for Americans and the economy. Outsourcing has created extra 7% unemployment and the government has to pay unemployment benefits to them every month. Instead of those people pay Government every month by tax; the government pays them. The people who benefit in other countries by job outsourced, take money from U.S, pay tax to their country not to the U.S. Outsourcing must be banned and all the jobs shifted overseas must be brought back to U.S. The U.S. dollars value keeps going down for the past 2 years. A country's unemployment rate is an important factor that determines its currency value.

Outsourcing our U.S. jobs to foreign countries is a desasterous move by our government! we are running out of manufactoring jobs in America due to donating our manufactoring to countries such as China,India,Or Mexico. Without manufactoring America is doomed! we can't continue to survive and make ends meet in America by Jim washing Teddy'S shirts, Dave cutting Sally's lawn, or freddy scooping Joanna's pet dogs poop from her lawn!!! We need to build things inorder to stay afloat!!??!!

What on earth are you talking about? Outsourcing is happening because it's cheaper to pay an unskilled laborer from Burma or Thailand than one from the United States. The government didn't just decide to start giving Jobs away, that's not how it works.

Lets look at the empirical evidence - the current state of the US economy. Its a mess. When it works, its held together with massive amounts of debt. When it doesn't, the dole queues stretch for city blocks. Lets compare that with the Golden Era for the American economy just after WWII. At that time the US was a closed economy but it had full employment and an excellent standard of living. Moreover, it managed all this by accumulating assets rather than debt.

All this has unravelled because somebody took the idea seriously that US workers could possibly compete with workers in other countries earning one tenth what they do.

The fact is that the US is a large enough market on its own. Even without foreign trade it can sustain a wealthy and vibrant economy. The US government has bought the argument, promulgated by private interests, that free trade is beneficial. So, OK wise guy, why doesn't the US government just put up trade barriers again?

In light of the above overwhelming 'empirical evidence', I would not be surprised if the powers that be in the US are tempted to go back to a closed economy. My guess is that the flow-on effects of taking such action would totally destabilise the world economy. It would set off economic armageddon. My advice (for what its worth): who is the US government accountable to? - the US citizen - and it is he/she that it should be looking after first and foremost. Good luck guys.

We lose jobs, incomes, and homes from companies making a killing off of what they sell TO us. They TAKE but don't give, which is unsustainable business practice due to simple human relations and sociological factual science. People don't give money to parties they know are screwing them over. We can teach them a lesson for betraying us simply by not spending money. Keep it instead.

However that is a minor issue. Here is the major one. By outsourcing government and accounting departments we are giving access AND control of all of our vital infrastructure and our information, our efficiency and productivity ratings, our assets and resources count, and finances to people who largely despise us. Suddenly some biotch sitting on her judgemental, hateful, anti american arse working for some corporation in Costa Rica or India decides if your product's or car warranty gets honored, if your car insurance helps you or denies you, how much your power bill or phone bill is that month, and what medical care you get.

We expect them to be honest to us when they hate us and want our money. So our numbers get shifted, never in our favor, our businesses are made to look horrible on paper to the likes of bankers and Deloitte and Touche, so suddenly no one will invest in anything in America. The US dollar has dropped rapidly in value, and our economy has tanked, since we were stupid enuf to let politicians and CEOs send IT jobs and departments overseas. It WILL destroy America and Americans if we let them.

It gives people who despise and look down their nose at us control over things like our home values, our labor wages, our retail food prices, how businesses treat us, our internet safety and security, our gas prices, our electricity prices, and how we look on the balance sheets to major finance industries. In other words, simply put, it is a recipe for disaster and those doing it are traitors to this nation even if they are from here.

Congressmen and Senators send whole federal agencies database management over there. FBI and Pentagon access included. They take huge kickbacks and campaign contributions in return, along with stocks and other gifts noone even knows about. So out the window goes all privacy and security. Our identities and locations are completely unprotected as our leaders sell us out, while those sharing that information to any party who might harm us or steal from our bank accounts are protected by secrecy under claims of privacy. If we try to ship services or products there we pay hefty port fees and taxes, while they pay none to ship here. If we charged import taxes like they require us to, we would have no deficit. That's how much money it is and why they can afford to pay politicians millions to keep it like that, and keep it quiet. So shhh don't tell anyone ok?

Don't buy a product because it says made in america, that's a farce. None of those companies are in america anymore, most of them have their main offices in Dubai now. Buy a product that you see being made in America only, whose accounting department is right here in America 100%. Ignore labels. Corrupt officials have made them a deception.

We are so overly worried about looking politically correct, we don't want to call it what it is. THEIR racist hate, THEIR greed, THEIR theft of ALL our wealth as fast as they can pull it off, THEIR lies, and THEIR human rights injustices and crimes en masse.

WE need to not do business with ANY business that does it's business like that, and to DEMAND that ALL tax paid agencies and work be done right here in the US. Unless of course Obama, Boehner, or Bush are willing to pay for it out of their own fat pockets not ours......honestly it's no different than going to Jamaica and letting them pick your pocket of every penny until you can no longer afford to eat or stay indoors.....I lived overseas for decades, and they will do that to ALL of us in a heartbeat if we let them, to say otherwise is to tell a straight up lie...

Really...we need to have a vote on whether taking jobs away from the people of the United States is a good or bad thing. My husband works for a manufacturing company, and they have taken different areas out of the factory to send to other countries, but you want to know what ends up happening...they have to send the parts back to our factory to fix what the factories in the foreign countries got wrong. Now how is that giving your company a good reputation...it is not!

My husband was laid off for almost a year due to outsourcing, and we have a family to take care, as well as bills to pay. So, with the state of our economy I do not believe that we should be sending anyone's job to a foreign country...I think we need to focus more on trying to bring back the jobs that have been sent away, and about how we can create a few more.

America has over spent and now has reached a high peak concerning the debt. We have gone over the budget limit creating a total debt of 16 trillion dollars. The U.S. gets its money from our income taxes, our INCOME TAXES, if we do not work and have jobs in the UNITED STATES how will we contribute to the debt that is making ALL of our Lives DIFFICULT????

The LAST thing needed right now is having AMERICAN jobs OUT of America!

Agreed, and the jobs being outsourced are the high paying jobs which create the most tax revenue and would ultimately pay down the debt. These jobs being outsourced both reduces tax revenue and adds unemployed individuals drawing $$ and funds to get retrained to another career.

2. Likewise, a corporation has a finite amount of assets at any given time. A corporation's assets decrease by some fractional amount when they pay wages to American workers.

3. Now, when a corporation moves overseas, and they pay their new employee's wages, they don't have to pay so much; so now, their assets are decreasing by a smaller fractional amount than before.

3a. The corporation's revenue hasn't changed. But now it's got more assets. It can invest in more assets (production facilities) with that money. It can hand out some bonuses to the people at the top (sounds likely). It could lower prices (with the exception of the electronics industry, I don't see prices falling anywhere...)

3b. Let's say the corporation reinvests in itself. Do the employees get a stake in that investment? No. Ignoring for the moment where the employees are located, the net effect of the transaction is that wealth (which is finite) has been redistributed to the top.

Nobody seems to account for why India and China and other countries that have benefited from our outsourced jobs are willing to work for less, because they can. Our currency which pays for their wages goes much further in their country. They may live like kings on a salary of $300 a month, whereas here it may actually cost us to take a job that pays the same, just in gas alone. So the competition is unfair due to our currency value which is all speculation just like the housing market was. Our might dollar, which everyone wants to invest in, who know why, is going to burst at the seems just like our housing market. Our currency value is completely bogus because the value of our currency is based upon a countries value and right now we have way more liabilities with a running deficit of over 13trillion than we have assets. This is why when everyone is mad over Quantative Easing I am actually okay with it, let's just get it over faster. Of course its going to hurt for a little while, but what it will do is bring back manufacturing. When a company can no longer purchase what they used to be able to do and with gas continuing to rise, we will be able to compete with the rest of the world and this alone is the only thing that will save America. I believe that we will have a manufacturing revamp in America just hopefully we don't declare that companies cannot find enough quality labor so they need more H1-B Visas. When you have a high employment rate H1-B Visas should be banned. They are merely slave labor ranking in more profits for companies. Companies need to think long term not short term, but then again look at CEO pay, I guess that is how we think now days. Pathetic it makes me sad that we can no longer feel great about America due to being raped by the top 1%. The middle class is dying and we are to busy working so our voices do not get heard. We are to busy working to support the top 1% and the bottom half that are living off of government. Ha we have not time or money to pay someone to fight for us.

I believe outsourcing jobs is one the worst thing that has been done to the American economy. People say if it wasn't for outsourcing the prices for products would be higher. It is not just employment that is outsourced as Americans we loose what use to be our heritage. It is the thing that people from other countries risk their lives to get and when asked why they come here for it is the number one reason. They come here for the "American Dream". When we outsource jobs we are outsourcing the American Dream. When jobs are lost to other countries so is the tax dollars that would go with every job is outsourced. Instead of good paying jobs that were available people are willing to work at Walmart. A store that is so shameful they changed their name from Wal-mart to Walmart. A company that not only outsources jobs they teach all new employees how apply for welfare, Food Stamps, health care and anything else you can get for free. The American Dream has been outsourced and exchanged for the worse nightmare since the great depression, when the next great depression comes around again who will fight for what is left of America. When everything is destroyed by jobs going out and Illegal immigrants coming in. When there is nothing left to scrap over the illegal immigrants who will just find another country that will become their new American dream whatever the country is. Maybe we should find a brand new country that nobody wants and start over. People need to learn to fight for what is best for our country instead we are willing to sell it off piece by piece till their is nothing left to pass on to our children, nothing that is worse passing on. If it was a medical exam this country would be found lacking any health and the only thing left for our children to fight for since our country is so ill from lack of care. The country is terminal because Her bones have been broken and left for the vultures to lick clean. So many Americans have lost the work ethic that made this country what it used to be. The only thing that will bring it back is for Americans to fight for what is ours. We are just willing to go belly up. I am proud of my country, I am proud of the the few people who are willing to stand up and fight for what is right.Let us bring back the jobs that proud Americans would love to work for because they love their country and they love their family. Their is no substitution left.

Hi folks, I've seen a lot of interesting and some not so interesting points raised here and, to be honest, I've only started thinking about this issue lately and am deciding whether or not it's something I should contact my M.P ( U.K. member of parliament) about.

I've spoken to quite a few businesses who claim that they simply cannot afford to hire "local" staff...One such man said this in defense of his hiring a network engineer from the Phillipines.

However, this led me to consider this point: If a business can no longer afford to pay local wages to continue operating then, by the laws of capitalism, shouldn't it go bankrupt. It can no longer compete. To me, it seemed, that this business owner was happily exploited a cheaper labour market to line his own pockets. Now, there's nothing illegal about that but what's struck me is that an awful lot of folks want the "I'm a nice guy" feeling whilst doing this. I thought..well, not so nice really but, as mentioned earlier, it's not illegal so line your pocket and move on.

Another local example is a UK computer accessories company called PC World which has a large office in the Czech Rep. Recently, that office has expanded to add another 300 staff. Meanwhile unemployment in the UK is rising to record levels. I wonder what the ethics of this is? The Czechs do a great job, no doubt, and are every bit as capable as their (dwindling) UK counterparts but..this is a UK company whose customers are UK citizens so shouldn't it really employ UK people? I don't expect companies to be ethical, but isn't that what are governments are supposed to ensure, on our behalf. Let's face it, most of these companies CEOs would probably sell their own grandmother for a better dividend (joke, btw, in case anyone gets their panties in a twist - but you get the idea)

Anyway, that's my penny's worth and we do have bi-elections coming up so I will be asking those canvassers who call at my door about it. To me it seems that outsourcing really benefits middle/senior management but no one else.

Do you think that companies who outsource should be made to pay an import duty or higher tax? Isn't it damaging to ourselves and our children if they have to take a huge cut in wages for their jobs (we all know that the price of living in the UK and more than likely the US is rising all the time)

i completely agree that companies who outsource should have to pay higher taxes, it only makes sense. I mean that's the whole reason tariffs were created, to protect the home country's economy, and it should stay that way.

Warren Buffett bragged in an interview about 9 years ago that he shifted the making of furniture from NC to China. He has been held up as a hero, but he has cost more American jobs than any other single person! He should be held accountable. He has made money, Billions, by closing US manufacturing.

Honestly, noone has mentioned that America is now completely dependant on other countries and that if say...China went down, our economy would crash to the point of no return because the United States has ceased to be a mercantilistic country. What America needs is to create reasonable wages for workers and pricing on products made in OUR country and bring back tariffs that make what America sells more reasonable for Americans to buy. Doing this, bringing work back to our nation would bring us out from under the thumb of foreign countries, and back to being the greatest nation on earth. In the 18 and 1900's America went with a mercantilistic economy, and we were home to some of the wealthiest men ever. While that time period may have been basically corrupt with monopolies, and awful for the lower classes, we now have the laws to stop monopolies and unfair working conditions, so that those systems can work properly and for the well being of America as a whole. If business came back to America we could stop outsourcing and start exporting, which is exactly what America needs to do.

It's terrible. These companies won't be getting american customers if americans don't have income. And with the disgraceful salaries these indians are getting for american work, they won't even be able to afford the american goods in return. America is doomed.

Its not only a few companies outsourcing right now. It is a lot of companies. Our Hospitals, Banks, Insurance companies, and phone/cellular companies are all outsourcing work to India... this is taking away millions of jobs from Americans.

I work for a company that keeps outsourcing their work to India. More and more jobs lost within the last few years. In the department I was in- all at one time 78 people in one shot gone, I was Lucky to find another position... but soon I feel they will find a way to outsource my job too - because that seems to be the direction of the company.

When talking to our Senior leaders they are so proud that the bonus they're getting is so much more than it was before... when we hear this we cringe because we don't even see a bonus from the company and they get nice fat paychecks compared to ours... Its all about greed.

We wonder why America is so dependent on the government for assistance... well they can't find jobs unless they have a masters degree... and of course that takes money and no guarantee they will even find a job... unless they want to work at Walmart or the local IGA and make minimum wage... and still need assistance because they can't feed their children or afford Medical Care.

Good paying Jobs in America are going away... and its from people thinking its okay (You know the people like the ones voting "Good"). Our nation has to open their eyes. The people of our Country would not be so dependent on Government funded programs if our government slowed down the outsourcing to other countries. I know they can't stop it, but they can regulate it by limiting the percentage of the work that gets outsourced.

Instead of us looking down on all the people on some kind of Federal or State assistance - since not all of them are taking advantage of it - We should be finding a way to get the jobs in our country back, so these people can go back to work! Stop pointing fingers at John Doe and point to our Elected officials for not even attempting to fix this problem so our Country can get back to work - with jobs that can pay the bills...

The amount of money we owe because of government spending to China is every reason to believe that Outsourcing right now is the WRONG thing to DO!!!! Where the hell is our thinking. Every friggen billinaire we have and every millionaire we have ought to seek a tea party that over turns the government and get teh USA under control by the PEOPLE themselves. It takes MONEY to campaign and those Billionaires and Millionaires that surround us here in the USA if they had a real brain, would use the energy to help the USA get out of the trouble we are in rather than think for their own GREEDY SELFISH selves.

STOP sending money to other countires thinking you can BUY LOVE. You are supporting JEALOUS idiots who take advantage and retaliate by working for pennies. You want to help, well HELP SAVE USA you stupid idiots.

Now after Bill Clinton screwed us royally, here comes a war that crushed us further. I AGREE 100% we needed to get that piece of crap Osama Bin Laden and we did. GREAT JOB to our Soldiers of War. Many many thanks!!!

But FUEL c'mon we have more middle class to low salaried people here in the USA who had the prices of fuel triple over a few years.

In 1975 gas prices were averaging $0.35 per gallon in 2000 gas prices were averging $1.05 per gallon. It took 25 years for the prices of gas to increase by $0.70 - Inflation was minor although the GREEDY would complain.

FUEL prices escalated to an average of $3.25 per gallon between 2006 - 2013 and has yet to ever find it's way back. This placed heavy inflation everywhere and is the MOST LARGEST problem and cause for why Americans cannot spend and get this economy we so desire back on track which in itself will add jobs. C'mon PEOPLE you don't have to be a rocket scientist to see it. If the government was over spending in the days of Clinton and back then before manufacturing got destroyed we had jobs and we didn't feel so threatened. However with something such as FOOD and CLOTHING which is 100% a neccessity has inflated so much due to the cost to transport it around speaks for itself.

If someone was paying $100.00 a month for gas just for work and food stores is now paying $350.00 - $400.00 per month

At the same token if the smokers that used to pay $2.00 a pack for cigarettes is now paying $7.00 a pack and say an average of a pack a day basically says it was about $24.00 a carton which basically calculates to roughly $72.00 per month but now would be $190.00 a month these are only 2 things out of many things that have inflated so much due to transportation costs escalating and food businesses needing to find a safety net to seel without losing money.

This is nearly $450.00 per month more for the average person. Did anyone in the middle class or lower salaried workers get compensated at least $3.50 an hour for this type of infaltion. If those that own a house with Oil heat you would ned an additional $2.00 per hour salary to keep you spending the way you used too. So $5.50 per hour increase. Yea OK RIGHT We all got that.... NO instead we have our place of employment Outsourcing instead which says for all of us that are employed, be happy you have a job and deal with it.

THIS IS NO LONGER United States of America. This is the HEINZ 57 Variety Country that is WAY WAY WAY out of control.

YOU STUPID idiots who can't see that the uncontrollable FUEL PRICES is the GREATEST KEY TO CONTROL. FIX IT!!!!!!!!

OBAMA sucks! He now has this country increasing by the millions with immigrants as his largest campaign was all for it. It's like American Idol... REALLY the friggen stupid Lasaro who can't sing for shit and all judges agreed was the worse of the night got through becasue the USA is not watching the show as much because they are out numbered by IMMIGRANTS. You call this USA. What gas stations are owned by US citizens, what 7-Eleven's or small convenient stores are owned or managed by US citizens. And don't try this BS about they don't pay good enough. It's not that at all, as we all know these jobs are a good starting point for young kids needing a job to get some expereince and responsibility. There are so many more out there that are no longer operated by US citizens.

We have billions of dollars be raised by government lotteries. Where the hell is all the money the winners do not receive going? Overseas to pay CHINA because it sure isn't being invested here in the USA. PROVE IT GOVERNMENT.

USA needs to get control over the price of fuel and get the costs back down under $2.00 per gallon.

USA needs to cut off immigration for enough years to show that we as USA can become an empire once again without those that come here with 10 kids in their back packs and screw up our medical benefits. Just another hugh mistake by allowing immigration. We were working on keeping people alive longer and with the medical benefits failing us people are going to suffer and not live as long.

Most American families have an average of 3 children. You have most immigrants with 5 or more. Do the math idiots. We don't have enough jobs now how the hell we going to put the increased amount of kids to work when they are old enough.

Outsourcing hurts the American economy. The main issue with outsourcing to a foreign country is the loss of jobs. Hundreds or even thousands of American jobs are lost at once when a company relocates its headquarters to another country. The largest incentive for companies to outsource to foreign countries is the increase in profits recieved. Not only are labor and production costs lower, but the consumer market expands to include the other country as well. Those in favor of outsourcing claim that the lowered costs for companies leads to a drop in price for consumers, but this is not always the case. The original reason for outsourcing was to maximize profit, therefore if a company lowers prices they shrink the amount of increased profit received from outsourcing. Another issue is the fact that production is not as strict in foreign countries causing a decrease in quality. Outsourcing causes a massive loss of American jobs and a decrease in quality of goods, all for a chance at lower prices.

Greed Greed and more Greed !!! First of all most products made in china are not quality products ... In my opinion I would rather pay more for a better product that will last a few more years .. You might as well take out the word "QUALITY" RIGHT OUT OF THE DICTIONARY .. Guys something has got to be done about where our world is headed and don't rely on your government !! We need more people like Jesse Ventura that has a back bone and tells it the way it is. Go Jesse Go !!

In the short term for some companies it may be good. However, in the long term it's a poor solution that ultimately drives customers away. I have been affiliated with organizations that did a lot of outsourcing to everywhere from India to Ireland. Even outsourcing to companies in the US. The problem with outsourcing isn't that it's always bad, but companies want to make it a windfall in savings for the organization.

In reality, unless you have a process that is stagnant and rarely changes, it just doesn't work. (Vendors don't understand what to do when the scenario isn't in their check list. More than 1 company has done this to me personally. HP, Amazon, Citi, are a few) The other misconception is that because it's outsourced the organization doesn't need to provide oversight. After all, "that's their job" More than 1 major company found out that is so extraordinarily wrong. (think of 2 brothers and mom tells #1 to take out the garbage, he talks #2 into doing it for $1. #2 says he'll do it and goes outside. the next evening #1 is in trouble because #2 didn't take out the garbage and #2 has already spent the $ on lollypops.).

So, actually the organization who outsources must provide more, not less oversight, and many times covertly to ensure no manipulation of results is occurring by the vendor. (Oh yes, we processed all those requests. Unannounced site visit resulted in discovering vendor was 4 months behind.) Oversight is not just the process you are outsourcing, but the vendor's IT, hiring practices, etc. Since any of these are vulnerabilities into potential avenues to your, it infrastructure (hint Target Stores data breach), business practices, trade secrets, etc.

Where onshore outsourcing is ok is it provides experience to individuals who need an avenue into a career that normally requires experience to get hired, but the experience is limited. Or for students who need a summer job between classes. Or the mother who's children have grown-up and moved away looking for something to occupy a few hours a day.

Offshore outsourcing, is just a way for an org to try to stay profitable, and it may be good for foreign economies, but in the long run it slowly damages ours by moving the higher salaried jobs to countries where they don't need to pay as much. (and the resulting product is many times inferior in design & result) For foreign environments it is a disaster because the foreign governments aren't prepared for the waste and pollution resulting from new outsourced industries (and the vendors themselves are driven by greed or need) and don't manage wastes as they should.

Taxes should be charged the same for organizations, the idea that a organization can have less of a tax burden by outsourcing is a issue that congress needs to resolve. We need progress in this. (oh sorry, pro vs con. The opposite of progress is congress.)

Wow, that's a horrible thing to say. The USA isn't all that matters. If all the world economies start failing do you think we are not going down also? Everyones economy is important. You should take a trip overseas sometime and visit other countries. It's just as amazing there as it is here. They probably protect their jobs a bit more than the US.

But back to the issue on hand, I hate that we are outsourcing jobs. It hurts us. I know. I was one of the ones that got blindsided in a meeting with no warning whatsoever. I did medical coding and that's scary since those jobs are now also going overseas (transcription jobs have been outsourced for awhile already). So the next time you walk into an ER ask where your medical record is going. It may just be overseas. Not only did it affect me, but my hairdresser lost a client, my dentist lost a patient, my doctor also lost a patient along with the pharmacy losing a customer since I now can't fill my prescriptions. I'm not shopping for anything that I don't absolutely need (food or otherwise). It's humbling when you have to go to a food bank for something to eat. I do go to farmer's markets when I can for healthy food and to support local farmers. But we as consumers can stop a lot of it and bring back some of the jobs by refusing to buy outsourced products. Look at the label and see where it's from. If we can't afford something made here vs made overseas, then save up for it till you can. Maybe we can save some jobs and bring others back. Not all outsourcing will stop, but we can have an impact on it by what we buy and demand. As for me, I am having to go back to school to learn something that can be done "hands on" and not outsourced.

On a macro scale, outsourcing is good for the economy. Customers and investors drive businesses, and customers demand lower prices and investors demand higher profits. In order to lower their cost structure, companies outsource non-critical activities to places where they can get the most value for their money.

This, in turn, allows them to offer their products at a lower price, and depending on what the company does, millions of customers could benefit. Likewise, the investors then receive higher profits and better returns on their investments.

So, while it sucks for Joe Worker that his job has been offshored to India to someone who will do his job for $5 a day and no bathroom breaks, the positive impact it has on a large scale make outsourcing a good thing.

I agree, outsourcing jobs is ultimately good for the economy. Although this is a very tough pill to swallow and difficult to explain to someone whose job has just been shipped overseas, the fact that it promotes efficiency and cost reduction in companies ultimately benefits more people than it harms. Thus, I believe it is good for the country.

I'm not an economist, but I know that corporations don't outsource so they can "pass their savings along" to me. How much does it cost Nike to make a pair of shoes, again?

When corporations offshore jobs they are, in a sense, dumping the labor of that other country into the US job market -- This has the immediate effect of taking money out of the hands of the poor and middle class worker, and, in the longer term, diluting the worth of the American worker. When our jobs go overseas, Americans have to take less skilled jobs that pay less and are less secure. You're saying that it's OK if Americans have less money, because products cost less? Well, the cost of living in America is going up, not down!!!

Who benefits the most from outsourcing? By far, the benefit is disproportionately enjoyed by Management and Shareholders.

Yes, the management and shareholder receives a large slice of the profits, but by outsourcing, americans are investing in the infrastructure and productivity of another country, who have lower living standards and live in poverty. Is it fair on those who are willing to work for less, so that the company may build basic neccessities such as roads and telecommunications equipment, that they should be denied work because the american wants to keep their worth? The worker, and the economy, must evolve with the times, and really, it is egocentric to believe that the american worker is superior to the Chinese, the american telemarketer superior to the Indian. Many people will work just as hard for less because of the side benefits rather than just the whole wage deal, and just because a worker is american does not make them inherently better.

It will only be a short term benefit for the companies who offshore outsource because there will be fewer consumers due to the fact that so many American's have lost their jobs. Who is going to buy those lower cost items? The unemployed or the people they are employing at such low wages; they will not be able to afford anything. So in essence they are destroying themselves by getting rid of their consumers.

It will only be a short term benefit for the companies who offshore outsource because there will be fewer consumers due to the fact that so many American's have lost their jobs. Who is going to buy those lower cost items? The unemployed or the people they are employing at such low wages; they will not be able to afford anything. So in essence they are destroying themselves by getting rid of their consumers.

I can't believe you are suggesting that American customers (ie, workers) have at any time demanded that American companies lower the cost of goods in the marketplace by moving their jobs overseas!

What Americans are demanding is a good standard of living with a decent wage so we can afford to buy all the goods and services we need; so we can provide for our families, without working 2 or 3 jobs. Outsourcing to developing nations drives wages down.

The one consumer item that American's are complaining long and hard about is gas. Have the massive, record profits reaped by American Oil interests translated into reduced gas prices? Of course not.

The American consumer shows demand not though petitions or the like, but rather in their choice of purchase. Outsourcing occurs because the consumer chooses the cheaper package over the more expensive despite where it was made. I would suggest that this feedback to companies who outsource, helps them conclude that the consumer wants cheaper goods. Because, the more profitable method was to outsource, it seems to me that the consumer may have driven their own demise.

Furthermore, outsourcing will ultimately drive global wages up, which is much more beneficial than merely maintaining American standards of living at the expense of everyone else. Taking Japan and Singapore as examples, after the initial bout of heavy industrial development, they moved into much more information based services accumulating in higher salaries and gross GDP growth, which in turn stimulated the American economy. Thus while American wages will suffer in the short term, it is a better long term approach to outsource.

In your hypothetical scenario, the company offshores so it may then lower prices and remain competitive. In reality, I think companies resort to offshoring because they have bowed to investor pressure to maximize short term profits.

There was price competition in this country before we sent millions of jobs overseas. Are corporations not rich enough? Wealth is being redistributed as we speak, and it's going to the very top. I don't see this trend reversing--do you?

The whole corporate model of business is based on infinite resources and endless growth. This model is entirely incompatible with wage parity in any meaningful sense. If you take the wages of the bottom 95% of the world and distribute them equally among that 95%, then 95% of the world would be poor.

Corporations don't think past the next quarter. They have no idea where all this is leading. The people who really run the Corporations from the Board of Directors probably have some kind of plan for where all this is going, but I don't think it involves those of us in the bottom 95%!

The idea that what is good for the Corporation is somehow good for the worker is highly suspect in my opinion. A corporation is a profit machine, nothing more.

Yes, the wealth gap widens within America, but no more so than the global wealth gap. Throughout history, the inequality between people is well recorded and indeed it can even be argued that inequality is part of human nature, but that's not what this is about. What I'm saying is that with outsourcing, the African peasant will earn a little more, and narrow the gap between them and the American Worker. What I find frustrating about all these arguments is that they assume the American worker is superior and/or sacred and thus must be protected.

Moreover, you seem to focus on Corporate wealth, but have you ever thought about how 3rd World countries industrialize? It is almost exclusively through foreign investment that poor economies grow and outsourcing is such an investment.

I believe that most of the arguments against outsourcing aren't because people feel that Americans are any more superior to those in other countries. I for one believe that all humans are equal and with the same freedoms and i believe that most others feel the same.

3rd world nations do grow because of foreign investment and that is a good thing. but corporations also manage to steal a lot of the resources of these 3rd world nations which they then make the native people work with.

it is one thing to invest and open new plants/buildings in 3rd world countries while keeping the original ones in America, it is completely different to close down the ones in America and then moving to a poorer nation and exploiting the fact those people will work for next to nothing because they have nothing better.

lets face it corporations don't outsource to help the poorer nations or its people, they do it because its cheaper, less environmental restrictions, and less strict worker conditions.

Corporations are supposed to do what is best for the shareholders, not for their country or even for their customers. In fact in the US the CEO is required by law to do what's best for these shareholders. And what is best for the shareholders is more profits. More profits come through lowering your cost of goods sold or increasing your revenue (or both). It has been proven time and time again that outsourcing to foreign countries can lower the overall cost of goods that you sell. Therefore, companies must outsource in order to survive today.

"Because, the more profitable method was to outsource, it seems to me that the consumer may have driven their own demise."

Are you telling me that consumers are choosing to commit economic suicide?

Let's just put this little hypothetical into play:

I lose my job because my company cut costs by moving it overseas. I am now on a much tighter budget. Because of my tight budget and precarious economic situation I buy the cheapest things I can, which turn out to be goods coming from overseas factories.

This doesn't seem to be the vote of confidence you are making it out to be; especially in cases where the consumer has no idea where the product is made or if their particular product isn't made anywhere but in other countries.

"Furthermore, outsourcing will ultimately drive global wages up, which is much more beneficial than merely maintaining American standards of living at the expense of everyone else. Taking Japan and Singapore as examples, after the initial bout of heavy industrial development, they moved into much more information based services accumulating in higher salaries and gross GDP growth, which in turn stimulated the American economy. Thus while American wages will suffer in the short term, it is a better long term approach to outsource."

I do not remember hearing about any U.S. jobs being sent to Singapore and Japan during the 70s and 80s, in fact, due to protectionist policies implemented by the U.S. government (and other nations) Japanese corporations such as Toyota and Mitsubishi had to open up factories in the United States and Canada in order to increase the number of cars sold.

I was rather referring to the consumer's original preference for cheaper goods. Then they loose their job and the spiral begins.

In my reference to Japan and Singapore, their development is due significantly to American investment, money, which may have also been used to develop American Industry, but wasn't. Is that not also loss of employment opportunity? And by opening factories in America, it proves the point that the foreign investment was also returned domestically and hence ultimately aided the American economy.

This is the issue, you are in favor of overseas investment then, not outsourcing.

There is a distinct difference between a lack of job creation (which occurs when a company chooses to invest its money overseas), and outsourcing (which is when a company takes its existing resources and reconfigures them so that current jobs are moved overseas).

I think you need to use a better example if you are going to defend the current practice; a practice which seems altogether different from what you are currently using as an example.

But see, outsourcing is a form of overseas investment, and that is why i support it.

The difference between redirecting job creation and and taking someone's job away is that now ego is involved, because that person thinks they have been wronged, while in reality, they have been surpassed. Simply put, they ask for too much.

And how is it conclusively destructive? Outsourcing is helping Indians build telecommunications and roads, abet at the expense of American roads and telecommunications. But because the net value cannot really be measured, one cannot definitely conclude that

"The difference between redirecting job creation and and taking someone's job away is that now ego is involved, because that person thinks they have been wronged, while in reality, they have been surpassed. Simply put, they ask for too much."

Ego? You do realize that most of these people have families, they tend to like to be able to provide for them. Also, many communities depend on manufacturing jobs as their primary source of economic activity. You do realize what's been happening in these cities and towns, don't you? Dramatic increases in poverty, crime, drug-abuse, prostitution, dilapidation of homes, main streets, commercial districts, industrial districts. Ego indeed.

"And how is it conclusively destructive? Outsourcing is helping Indians build telecommunications and roads, abet at the expense of American roads and telecommunications. But because the net value cannot really be measured, one cannot definitely conclude that"

You can say that it is conclusively destructive in a number of ways:

It aids and proliferates child labor.

It destroys the environment by taking advantage of weak, small nations with little environmental protections.

It dominates small nations politically, leading to a dramatic decrease in democracy in such nations.

It acts as a force against collective bargaining, unions, both at home and abroad (abroad it tends to bust unions through murder and intimidation, of course).

It decimates domestic production and ownership, which can lead to famine in the case of Haiti (where domestic produces were pushed out by cheap food prices, and then the citizens were left to starve when prices rose way above their income levels).

It increases our already abundant CO2 production by putting emphasis on goods and services that must travel long distances between consumer and producer.

The lists go on. But, to be blunt, these are not destructive if you don't believe in the effects or do not believe the effects are all that bad (or bad at all).

Yes, it is ego driven. They lived a much more privileged life than can be expected for people who work in such industries, and demand that the lifestyle be maintained. If we take the living conditions of global manufacturing 'grunts' for want of a better word, the American 'grunt' is excessively well off. Really, all outsourcing is doing is re-balancing the equality, equal pay for equal work. The problem in those communities that rely on manufacturing industries for survival is a shortcoming in the government, and it's inability to encourage high technology industry development. These people are not suffering due to corporate decisions to outsource, but the government's inability to observe the inevitable, and plan ahead. Yes these immediate issues are destructive, however over the course of history, again and again during the era of industrialization, children are exploited, environments defecated upon and nations are exploited, however it strikes me that only after such a nation industrializes, do they preach suffrage and equality and fair trading practices. These ills are intrinsic towards the development of industry. Do you really expect solar panels in Africa, three times as expensive as developing coal, and notoriously unreliable, to power a steel industry? Or that they won't employ child labour and cut their workforce in half?

In relation to domestic production and ownership, yes, it will reduce domestically owned industry, however once enough wealth is achieved, the odds will begin to even. Also, Food is a tenuous example to use as it is a strategic resource as well as economical. Fluctuations in world food prices are also why countries like Japan give 700% subsidies to their farmers, to ensure that the domestic agrarian industry is never lost and in times of strife, will continue to produce. It is also why the EU refuses to reduce tariffs on imported foods, as it will decimate their agriculture.

If I was to see two products of the same brand, and one was a little more cheaper, but made in china, I would go and spend a few extra bucks on buy the product the is made in my country, USA. This way I know I am supporting the US workers. Also when I tend to buy stuff, I always check where its made, and rarely to I see the proud mark of "Made in USA". Today when I check stuff I almost always see "Made in China". Everything now a days are made cheaply, by cheaply paid workers, just so that the consumer can save a few bucks and the greedy company owners can max out there profits, even if it means putting hard working US workers out of jobs.

If I was to see two products of the same brand, and one was a little more cheaper, but made in china, the other being made in US. I would go and spend a few extra bucks on it and buy the product that is made in my country, USA. This way I know I am supporting the US workers. Also when I tend to buy stuff, I always check where its made, and rarely to I see the proud mark of "Made in USA". Today when I check stuff I almost always see "Made in China". Everything now a days are made cheaply, by cheaply paid workers, just so that the consumer can save a few bucks and the greedy company owners can max out there profits, even if it means putting hard working US workers out of jobs.

Gas is more expensive because there isn't much of it. Jobs are being exported because there is a better workforce somewhere else willing to work at a lower wage. You don't think outsourcing didn't contribute to lower prices? Then just look at the low inflation the US enjoyed throughout most of the 90's and even into 2000.

In the end ask yourself this question: Who needs the jobs more, the richest country on earth or poor, developing countries?

You think an American has a hard time losing their job? Let's see, they can collect unemployment, welfare, and housing assitance.

Someone in India without work is lucky to have a roof over their heads or any food on the table.

In the end ask yourself this question: Who needs the jobs more, the richest country on earth or poor, developing countries?

Shut the hell up, dumbass. You wouldn't be saying that if you were unemployed. It's so easy for you to be blind of the effects outsourcing has on people's lives when you have everything that you need.

American citizens should come first in America. Families take care of their family and nations take care of their citizens. The unemployed DO suffer and not EVERYONE is able to collect benefits. Unemployed Americans need the jobs just as desperately as unemployed individuals in other nations.

"You think an American has a hard time losing their job? Let's see, they can collect unemployment, welfare, and housing assistance."

Now the question is, do you necessarily want them collecting those things instead of working for a living? Where does the money for these benefits come from? The rich get taxed for these benefits. So the increased profits reaped from outsourcing end up coming back to bite them in the rear, because the government will demand more money from them to finance the swelling demand for benefits like unemployment, etc. Outsourcing jobs is essentially a zero-sum game.

Might as well save the hassle and keep the jobs here. It's individual people who have to learn not to cry when their iPod costs $120 instead of $100. You don't need an iPod to live.

first of all, of course you are not going to see the american customers "demand" lower costs through outsourcing......the market forces do this. outsourcing doesn't drive wages down, its a problem with workers being unqualified for the higher level jobs that are created after company resources are freed up by shipping those lower level jobs overseas. also gas is a commodity so it really doesn't have anything do do with your example.

At this point in time when thousands of people have lost their jobs, I believe keeping what we can in the U.S is better for Joe Worker. The profit here is only for the big corporations there really is no plus for us, how are we profitting in any way other than possibly cheaper products?

Sir, you to not realise that Joe Worker is not only the one who lost his job, but is also the person that the company is trying to sell thier product to. Now that Joe Worker has no job, he will not be buying your product.

Joe Worker needs to become better qualified for the jobs created by the upward shift in the economy.....and if he is not buying my product he will buy it from someone overseas who is producing it at a fraction of the cost. Again hurting the american economy. Whereas if the job was outsourced, the us company could compete on price.

What a spun crock of bs. If it was taxed properly it would not be cheaper. It also is not going to be cheaper for those companies in the end. They are blind and shortsighted for sure. What about when their most profitable market vanishes into thin air and walks away from them for forever. Whether it be because all americans are broke and have to stop buying those products, or because social science reality finally kicks in and we give them what they earned. In reality those companies need to pay higher wages to people so that more people can afford to buy products from them more often. Products that come from the factories and facilities they have invested in. So their plan is a plan to fail. Because it is based on making their own products less and less affordable.

By that stupid, unsustainable plan poor Joe won't be buying the nice work boots, the gloves, the truck, the insurance, the clothes, the toys, the new game system, the meals out, the new china, the bigger TV, the computer, the Ipod, the pool, the tools, the beer, the steaks, the fishing rods, or the rifles next year. Instead he will be out with his old rifles looking for you.

Poor jobless American Joe will instead be a prime candidate to join any real Revolution or Tea Party that comes along, voting only to overthrow the corrupt SOBs who made things like this. He will be working for Walmart at minimum wage 30 hours a week with no health insurance waiting for Obama to save him(yeah been one long azz wait ennit?), and stocking up on ammo one box at a time from his meager check for his 308 or 270 w scope, and scouring the internet into the wee hours during his many days and hours at home for the names and home addresses of the evil SOBs responsible....

So keep it up Mr Stuck on yerself bigshot CEO, JP Morgan, Goldman Sucks, poliartician, lawyer, nuke or oil bigwig, see where how it ends for you! I want to be around to film it for you and future retards such as yourselves. I bet that video would go viral and sell like ice packs in hell, and since as you say customers drive the market, doesn't look too good for you lmao.....

Customer service is suffering in America because of outsourcing to foreign countries. They are reading from scripts about a subject they know nothing about. They don't listen to the responses to their script questions because they don't understand the subject matter at hand. Ergo, the customers are getting frustrated and their issue is not resolved without multiple phone calls that are using up their valuable time off, or worse from their job. This is a no win situation since entry level jobs for young adults are now hard to come by.

The term "out sourcing" adds a negative adjective to what is sound economic practice. When manufacturing prices final goods for the market they must be competitive. American companies can be competitive using resources found all over the world. Labor or other resources need to be secured from all locations. When a competitive product is sold in America by an American company using labor or other resources gained from "out sourced" locations, Americans still win. The US economy has employed some Americans which is far better than not employing any Americans. If their company did not out-source, it would not be competitive and would go out of business.

Really? Can you provide some specific figures? I seem to remember that in 2003, the US experienced a net increase of jobs. 2003, when globalization was at its apex. I'm sure the figures for 2004, 2005 and 2006 are similar.

The same principles of capitalism - supply and demand - should be what guides our world economy and the thinking of Americans. If America doesn't keep itself competitive by outsourcing, we will lose in the long run because we won't be players or winners in the game of supply and demand. Isolating ourselves from the world economy by not outsourcing would be a major, major mistake representative of a country doomed to fail.

I completely agree, and to add to your argument, Ricardian theory of competitive advantage supports this idea. If other countries have the competitive advantage (do the work more efficiently than in the US) then the US should allow them to do it, and specialize in other things that we are good at.

What is America good at now? That realm is shrinking. We used to be great at innovating new technology, producing cars, airplanes, and other consumer products. That isn't the case anymore. All that stuff is getting produced overseas.

We need skilled blue-collar labor here, because everybody is not suited for a highly-skilled job that requires a college degree that costs $100,000 to acquire. Not everyone possesses the skill or desire to be a financial investor who relies on stock market speculation to make money. There needs to be balance and diversity in the job market for people of all skill and educational levels for the market to sustain itself. Otherwise you're creating a dependent welfare class of unskilled workers that relies on a small class of super-elite wealthy for tax money, while effectively wiping out the employed middle class. Well, I guess another option is that you can open a liquor store or Mexican restaurant, provided you can raise the capital for it. Oh wait, I can't because I can't get a decent job that pays beyond subsistence wage without having a college degree. Then I might earn $15 an hour if I'm lucky and have tens of thousands of dollars in debt.

It's a no-win situation for a displaced factory worker, and it's a total win for the guy with majority share in a large multinational conglomerate.

Its a matter of perception. On the macro level its good for everyone. Improved efficiencies and global communication make a flat world (yes I've read that book). In the global market, we aren't concerned with the little stories of blue and white collar layoffs.

I live in an area that has seen a lot of outsourcing, and its good in the long run. The selfish nature of the human spirit is what keeps those thinking thier job was important enough to stay in their town.

Bitter irony, many companies are starting to insource (outsource to them) back to the US. All the foreign car companies are putting in new plants. Sorry Detroit, they're going to other parts of the country.

Good or bad for who? If you're talking about US then there are particular groups that it would negatively impact while others positively. If you're talking about foreign countries then it would also be good since they benefit by earning return for their labour.

Today in the world of globalization outsourcing either it's BPO or KPO both have become a viable part of economy.so one country can not fulfil desire ,demand and wishes it is self centered for exposure they have to take some steps ahead and thing farsighted no matter america outsouce it's jobs to another countries in these days because it gonna be beniffited in future for america itself because today it's their need to appoint those persons who value the job .They are following the one of management principle "right person at right job". so for if our country wants a better outcome outsourcing is not bad at all .moreover it is not only u.s who is outsoucing but countries like India which is predecting to be the world next power is outsourcing americans too so it is a give and take . if country will grow countries business will grow it 'll automatically generates jobs so it is situation of wait and watch.

It's good because in order for people to develop new industries and therefore new jobs, we need to get rid of the old jobs. Primarily those that aren't efficient. The immediate effect of losing jobs may sound bad, but it leaves room for growth and development. Companies that are more suitable and productive will grow and survive while those that aren't won't. What's the use of producing buggy whips today? Why keep it around because it 'simply create jobs' We need to understand productivity and long term outcomes.

In these days all types of business firms must have to maintain their data in to particular order but now days every business is busy to continue their data. Outsourcing services is the consent term for business world.Outsourcing make valuable contributions to business firms to increase profits, efficiency and operations with superior speed.

It is obvious that you are either in business or a politician because I could not understand a word you said. There is one thing I did understand and that is you support outsourcing jobs. This country of ours is in a real jam, there is not enough jobs for people who need them. So what do the businesses who can make a difference do? They wrap the jobs up and tie them with a bow and ship them over seas. It is not done for a good cause it is so they can get cheap labor and the rich get richer and the poor are left searching for jobs that are not there to get. Jobs for Americans is not just good for the people who get the jobs it is good for the country. We have a family that don't need public assistance they contribute through their taxes and the goods and services they are now able to afford. Their children go to college so their children and their children's children are able to see their dreams come true. But when jobs are outsourced the only people to benefit are the companies. If you could see how these people in other countries are treated on the job it is no life at all. I have seen people who live at their work station because for them the cheapest flat in town is considered a luxury they cannot afford. Mothers are separated from their children who live in the village with grandparents. She can only see them once or twice a year because it is too expensive to travel. But for some children it is worse because their education is what they are taught by the people they work for. That puts the family structure on shaky ground. These only people who make money are the companies who pay their worker wages so cheap these wages they get are laughable. They are paid by the piece. They get something like fourteen cents a garment, it is anyone's guess what Americans pay for it. Anywhere from fourteen dollars to forty dollars. People who are forced to live in dorm rooms with fences not to keep people out but to keep people in. Outsourcing jobs is an American disgrace.

In my own experience, I've seen how offshore legal outsourcing actually creates more legal jobs in the West, rather than cutting them. Every time a deal is done, or a litigation is waged, because legal services are suddenly affordable, it means more work for the Western lawyers involved in supervision, editing, negotiating, and/or appearing in court.

For example, a Fortune 100 company specifically requested that the legal research and analysis needed for a series of multi-million-dollar deals in the U.S. be done by Indian attorneys at a legal process outsourcing operation in India. This is a situation where, if not for the off-shore legal outsourcing option, no lawyers would have been hired, because typical Western legal fees would have made it prohibitive. The work would have been done either in-house, or not at all. Because the India team made it possible for the deals to happen, Western law firms ultimately got more business, handling the otherwise non-existent transactions.

A similar phenomenon has happened in litigation, where corporate clients have chosen to defend themselves against meritless lawsuits, using both U.S. and Indian lawyers. The cases have been dismissed instead of settled, because of the successful teamwork among attorneys in the U.S. and India. Without legal outsourcing, there might have been no U.S. lawyers hired for any significant litigation work at all, because frivolous cases often are settled at the outset, just to avoid the usual U.S. litigation costs. The off-shore outsourcing of legal work is leading to a new breed of benign tort reform, as defendants facing bogus or inflated tort claims are choosing to litigate and win. This in turn discourages such claims. And the money that otherwise would be spent by defendants on nuisance payouts can be plowed by corporations right back into the U.S. economy.

Outsourcing of jobs: Good, depending on who you are. Bad, depending on who you are.

This was a poorly-worded question to begin with. Bad in what way? Good in what way? I don't really know what that means. "Nothing is good or evil, but thinking makes it so."

The problem is two-fold:

1) Unscrupulous business owners who take advantage of employees and/or consumers

2) Unproductive employees who feel entitled to a steady paycheck regardless of their productivity/expect a company to take care of them for life even when they don't work.

Reminder: Most business owners don't take advantage of people. Most employees don't mooch off the system.

Here's an excerpt from an article I wrote. It summarizes the evolution of the economic crisis as I see it today.

"Post-revolutionary America started as an agrarian society. Most people lived on homesteads and had basic knowledge and skills in many different trades—families practiced farming, husbandry, carpentry, and some blacksmithing. Most of what they used they made themselves. They were largely frugal and self-sufficient.

"As America passed into the industrial age specialization began to take on a narrower scope. The individual tasks of trades that could be effectively managed by a single person were further divvied up among multiple workers, particularly in factories. Productivity soared and profits followed.

"This ultra-specialization resulted in a surge of cheap labor and an expendable workforce. Workers were completely at the mercy of their employers, many of whom took full advantage of it as evidenced by the miserable working conditions, long work hours, and harsh treatment of employees that typified the early stages of the industrial revolution.

"Indignant over these abuses, thousands of workers began to look to organized labor as the solution. The myriad of reasons to want to unionize all had their root in job security—before the unions existed to speak out against employers was to risk losing one’s job to one of the dozens of people competing for it.

The unions, socialistic in nature, were a harsh graft onto capitalist America. They gave the illusion of job security for a time, but as they grew in size and power, backed by the Department of Labor, they began to constrict the companies they had latched onto. Today, many American companies such as General Motors report that their greatest expense is the pensions they pay to retired employees—a concession made by the company to the union. Productivity in the workplace also declined as the workforce, complacent in their supposed security, became sluggish and indifferent.

"As the cost of employees rose, employers began to move their factories overseas where labor was cheaper. The illusion of job security exploded as thousands of American workers watched their jobs follow the factories out of the country, leaving them behind unemployed and empty-handed."

A number of principles, if applied, would provide the solution to the problems:

1) Communities in which the members genuinely care about the well-being of each other will never worry about job security. There was a time in agrarian America when the whole community would turn out to help rebuild someone's house or barn if it burned down. When neighbors look out for each other there is no need for government to get involved, no need for socialist programs, company pensions, or 401(k)'s.

2) Individuals can increase their wealth by using their brains and skills to increase their productivity. Wealth is merely a reflection of value and productivity; it has always moved from those who consume to those who produce. Big corporations bring in so much more money because they produce so much more; it's a principle of scale. They create synergy and utilize the strengths of all their members. If you want to create more value, learn to leverage other people's time and money to create value.

3) Buy on value, not price. Literally the only reason big companies can get away with making poor products outsourced to other countries is because we, the consumers, let them. When we choose to buy their products because of a lower price we lose out on quality. If we don't buy, they don't sell, they don't get paid, and they go under. Rather than focusing on how to save money, we should focus on finding ways to produce more so that we can afford the higher-quality products.

Well, there is Outsourcing and there is OUTsourcing. dnadublin is an irish design studio with head offices in belo horizonte in brazil, same land mass, if you ever need a sofa, let me know, you can always drive down. =)